Photos

I walk through the valley of the shadow of silicon

So, this is San Jose. I can imagine less hospitable places, but it was a good plan to set my expectations low and be pleasantly surprised. Had I expected someplace as wonderful as, say, San Francisco, I would have been disappointed. (My apologies to pathological Valley-booster Leigh Weimers of the Mercury News, but that’s the way it is.) If San Francisco were New York, San Jose would be Paramus. A hot, dry Paramus with a million people.

Something else about San Jose: They didn’t bother to separate the airport from the city. As a result, the planes fly damn low over downtown, the university campus, and to a lesser degree, my house. Keep the volume control handy at all times.

In contrast to the fanatically protected coast I just moved from, San Jose seems to have obliterated all signs of nature. I have seen a grand total of zero dolphins and seals in the streets, but there are a few hawks around, and a couple ratty-looking hummingbirds in my yard, god love ’em.